Plum Productions' Eric Saarinen Mimics Old Masters For Chevy Tahoe Branding Campaign
SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- What do you do after you've already set the creative benchmark for car commercials? If you're award-winning filmmaker Eric Saarinen of Plum Productions, Santa Monica, CA, you develop an entirely new, never-before-seen technique that blends techniques of filmmaking, visual effects, painting and photography into one visually stunning image.
The end result, as evidenced by Saarinen's new 2-spot branding campaign for Chevy Tahoe via Campbell Ewald, is somewhere between an Ansel Adams photograph and renaissance paintings. The new campaign began airing in November.
"Car commercials, especially ones for SUVs tend to be similar in their approach," says Saarinen, whose previous credits include the 1994 Jeep's "Snowcovered" spot, which won a Grand Prix at Cannes was recently added to the Clio Hall of Fame; and last year's Landrover "Orbit" spot, honored this year by the AICP for Best Production. "If you want to standout from the pack, you have to be willing to try something new. Fortunately, the client and Campbell Ewald were committed to doing something special with this project."
Click image to view spot
Part production technique, part visual effects compositing, the spots entitled "Anywhere" and "Nobody," were shot in the far reaches of British Columbia and the Yukon. Locations that were reachable only by helicopter. Saarinen and his small crew shot at numerous locations, always using a locked-off camera so the shots would match later in post.
"Nobody" centers on a nature photographer, while "Everywhere" features a painter, both of whom are seen wandering the beautiful terrain in their Chevy Tahoe capturing the beauty around them. After capturing an array of spectacular nature scenes, including shots with the actors and the Chevy Tahoe, Saarinen brought the footage to visual effects artist Phillip Brennan at Asylum Visual Effects.
Using Discreet Logic's Inferno Saarinen and Brennan digitized the color footage in black and white with red, green and blue color records. Methodically they went through all of the film, finding the absolute best black and white record for each area of each shot cloud formations, waterfalls, skylines, foreground elements and composited them into a master black and white image. Color was added to each specific shot to create an image of unusual depth, not unlike the work of photographer Ansel Adams.
"Having done this, I will never shoot a black and white still photograph again. Rather I would use the same process to create greater depth," explains Saarinen. "We took the best elements from each shot, studied them as though they were a painting and very purposely composited them into the master shot. The result is an image of extraordinary depth and an approach that has never been done digitally. We borrowed from the renaissance painters, doing a 'Grisaille' black and white and then adding color."
The final spots actually consist of just 5 and 6 still shots respectively. In addition, to give the spots a sense of languid motion Saarinen 'under cranked' the camera while shooting moving elements such as clouds and the waterfall. The in-camera effect provided a subtle, almost mysterious, sense of motion. Saarinen also incorporated a time-lapse technique feature in the Inferno called 'frame averaging,' which added movement and gave the spots their unique look.
However, for all of its visual spectacle, the new ads stand above most car commercials thanks to the copy poetic odes to a nature-lover's wandering spirit written by Campbell Ewald copywriter Patrick O'Leary. In "Nobody," the voice-over from actor James Garner intones:
"There's a place I travel when I want to roam, and nobody knows it but me. The roads don't go there and the signs stay home, and nobody knows it but me. It's far, far away and way, way afar, it's over the moon and the sea, and wherever you're going that's wherever you are. And nobody knows it but me."
"It isn't often original poetry finds itself into advertising, especially a car campaign," says Saarinen. "This is one of those rare campaigns that possess a sense of integrity and dignity. The copy was inspired, and greatly influenced their magical and transitory feeling. We tried to mimic the words with Haiku like images."
ABOUT PLUM PRODUCTIONS: For two decades, Plum Productions has produced some of advertising's most effective and acclaimed television commercials. Led by CEO Chuck Sloan, Partner/Director Eric Saarinen (recently named one of Creativity Magazine's Top 100 Directors) and Partner/Executive Producer Thom Tyson, the company enjoys a well-earned reputation for producing innovative global ad campaigns for such brands as Landrover, Jaguar, Pirelli, Toyota, IBM, GE, Chrysler, Level (3), General Motors, Mountain Dew and Sprint. It's landmark 1994 spot for Jeep "Snow Covered," which still airs today, was recently named to the Clio Hall of Fame.
In addition to Saarinen, the company's roster of directors includes Jan De Bont, Director of such Hollywood actioners as Speed, Twister and The Haunting; Bob Rice, a gifted comedic storyteller and former Chiat/Day Creative Director; Dana Christiaansen, known for his cinematic eye and innovative camera techniques; Luca Maroni, Italian Creative Director turned Director known for his combination of striking visuals, fashionable art direction and sly humor; and Adam Cohen, real people/documentary specialist who helped create MTV's Road Rules. Shelby Sexton, Executive Producer for Eric Saarinen rounds out the production staff. Plum Productions is repped on the West Coast by Director of Marketing Vanessa McLean and Richard Miller in the Midwest.
Creative Credits: Client: Chevy Tahoe Project: "Nobody," "Anywhere" (both :30s) Airdate: November 2002
Production Company: Plum Productions, Santa Monica, CA Director/DP: Eric Saarinen Executive Producers: Chuck Sloan, Shelby Sexton-Gonosy Producer: Joel Zimmerman
Agency: Campbell-Ewald, Warren, MI Vice Chairman/Chief Creative Officer: Bill Ludwig EVP, Creative Director: Joe Puhy, Jim Gorman SVP, Creative Director: Jon Stewart, John Clarey SVP, Assoc. Creative Director: Patrick O'Leary, Brad Neeley EVP, Dir. of Broadcast Production: Bob Solano VP, Executive Producer: David Haldeman
Visual Effects: Asylum, Santa Monica, CA Effects Artist: Phillip Brennan
Editorial: Mad River Post, Santa Monica, CA Editor: Steve MacCorkle Executive Producer: Gary Ward
Location: British Columbia, Yukon
